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Bride of Christ
Contents
Virgin Bride of Christ
- 2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy:
- for I have espoused you to one husband,
- that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Portrayed as the bridegroom in this relationship,
God reveals Himself to be faithful, loving, and committed
to a covenant union with his Church
- 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him:
- for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
- and his wife hath made herself ready.
a comparison made between an earthly bride and the church.
See
Israel and the Church
why it matters so much
the betrothed bride is considered married to her bridegroom,
the same principle applies to the Church
Promised Holy Spirit
- 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth,
- the gospel of your salvation:
- in whom also after that ye believed,
- ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
John 14.3
Jude 1.23-24
- ... that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
you do not know the day or the hour. – Matthew 25.1-13
wedding supper of the Lamb:
Revelation 19.6-9
The Church Is the Bride of Christ - What Does that Mean?
Portrayed as the bridegroom in this relationship,
God reveals Himself to be faithful, loving, and committed
to a covenant union with his church
In the Old Testament
God was the first to initiate relationship with His people,
the children of Israel.
A covenant was established with Abraham (Genesis 15, 17),
confirmed through His son Isaac (Genesis 26:3),
and reaffirmed through Isaac’s son Jacob (Israel)
and his descendants forever (Genesis 28:13).
As part of this contract,
God agreed to be faithful
and promised to set the nation of Israel apart as His holy people
(Leviticus 20:26; Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 26:18-19).
In doing so, they were instructed to consecrate themselves to the Lord and serve Him alone
Exodus 20:2-6; Deuteronomy 6:13
The people of Israel, however,
frequently broke their vows and walked away from their contract with God
to serve other gods and pursue their own interests.
But in every betrayal, God remained faithful and never broke His promise to Israel
Psalm 119:90
Lamentations 3:22-23
Hosea’s wife Gomer
was unfaithful to her husband,
returning to a life of prostitution,
so God felt betrayed by Israel’s infidelity
Joel 2:13
Hosea 14:4
Ezekiel 16:8-14
pure virgin to him” 2 Corinthians 11:2
WRONG Those who believe are called the church. WRONG
Those baptized believers are the Church
Ephesians 5:21-24
Ephesians 5:25-27
Revelation 19:7-8
Matthew 25:1-13 Revelation 21:1-2
In the Old Testament,
the prophets often portray God’s people as often an adulterous wife.
Jeremiah also contains imagery of God’s people
as a formerly loving bride who has now become a prostitute,
chasing after other men who use and abuse her (see Jeremiah 2).
Ezekiel portrays the tender and generous love of God for his people,
which is then thrown in his face as he watches her not even accept payment for her prostitution,
but instead bribe other men, paying them to let her be with them Ezekiel 16.
After showing the unfaithfulness of the people in dozens of chapters,
Isaiah ends with a beautiful reaffirmation of God’s faithful and enduring love for His people:
Isaiah 62:4-5.
John the Baptist calls himself a friend of Jesus, who is the bridegroom John 3:29.
Ephesians 5:25-32
Matthew 28:20
He has her back (Isaiah 58:8).
He provides for (Philippians 4:19) a
protects her in all things 2 Thessalonians 3:3.
Though the Church is made up of sinful people
Is this true? Sins are forgiven.
- 9 If we confess our sins,
- he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
Is this the Church?
cleanse us from all unrighteousness
The lamp oil represents God’s Holy Spirit.
the bride is the Church. See Ephesians 5:25-27
see 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 where Paul relates the Church to Christ’s bride.
Revelation 19-21, where reference is made to the “wedding of the Lamb”,
the bride of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7)
- 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white:
- for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
and the wife of the Lamb (Revelation 21:9),
” (Revelation 21:9).
for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and His wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7 cf. Isaiah 54:4-7).
John 3:29,30
friend of the bridegroom” is John the Baptist
John 1:31
betrothal (Deut. 22:23-25).
- Saved person's that did not unite with the Church
(Matt. 25:31-46; Luke 14:15-24).
the Body of Christ is the Bride, the Lamb’s wife
Beware Berean Bible Society
Are You A Baptist Brider? Dennis R. Wharton
The Bride of Christ is comprised of only,
and all the members who have been scripturally baptized into a New Testament Baptist Church,
and that Christ will present this Bride to Himself at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
You DO NOT have to be a Baptist to go to Heaven.
We totally reject the false doctrine of the universal invisible church.
The Church, according to divine purpose and plan, is a visible, local, organized body;
that is composed of baptized believers associated together by a covenant of faith and fellowship in the Gospel.
God’s plan for financing the ministry of the church is through the giving of offerings.
The Commission was given to the churches, not individuals.
Members should be voted into the fellowship of the local body by the local body.
Unruly church members should be prayerfully and Scripturally disciplined by the local Baptist church;
and that letters of membership should be granted to sister local Baptist churches of the same faith and practice.
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances personally set in the church of the living God by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Baptism places a believer into the membership of a New Testament Baptist Church.
The Lord's Supper is restricted to a closed communion within the membership of the local Baptist church.
The elements of the Lord's Supper are unleavened bread and wine.
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Christ Jesus arose bodily from the grave on the first day of the week,
which day we now observe as the Lord's Day, a day of worship;
His miraculous emergence from the tomb forecasted a like bodily resurrection for every member of the Adamic race;
the dead in Christ, those of the first resurrection, shall be raised,
and we which are alive and remain shall be changed and taken out of this world preceding the seven years of tribulation;
those who are of the Bride of Christ will be united to the Bridegroom at the marriage
to be witnessed by the friends of the Bridegroom John 3.29; Revelation 19.9
who will share in the marriage supper of the Lamb after being rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ,
and await completion of the first resurrection as the dead Tribulation saints are rewarded
at the close of the seven years;
and all the saved will then rule and reign with Christ in His Millennial Kingdom;
the Bride of Christ is the local Baptist church;
those who are saved and not members of a local Baptist church will be present as "Friends of the Bridegroom;"
the dead in trespasses and sins, or the dead out of Christ, shall rise at the close of the Millennium;
and they shall be brought before the Great White Throne Judgment and there face the Judge of the quick and the dead.
(Matt. 28:6; Luke 24:1-12; I Cor. 15:12-22; I Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 20:5-6; 11:15; Dan. 12:3; I Sam. 2:6; Isa. 26:19; Hosea 13:14; Isa. 25:6-8. ).
